A Light in the Dark
by CondorReaper
Summary: Aizawa needed to clear his head after expelling his entire homeroom. He never expected to run into Izuku on his walk, nor did he know just how much of a headache the light shaper would bring him in the near future.
1. Chapter 1

**So, this will be my first foray into the depths of writing for the My Hero Academia section of this site. To those who followed me for my other works, I am in the process of getting those done. This should give me the last creativity boost I need to make headway into those.**

** Who knows, this might even go somewhere.**

** Any who, without further ado, let's get cookin'!**

* * *

Aizawa Shota, teacher at the esteemed U.A. Academy for Heroes by day, and Eraserhead, underground hero by night. His position as such allowed him to foster the young hopefuls of tomorrow into the heroes they aspired to be, while also granting him the power to remove those without the drive or potential. It was fulfilling work, even if his tired disposition never fully showed it.

His schedule never allowed for much sleep as it were.

Nevertheless, he currently found himself returning home from a long, hard, headache inducing day. Said headache would most likely last him for the next month or so as well.

Expelling or moving your entire homeroom class would do that.

He saw this coming though, and asked his housemate/boyfriend, Hizashi Yamada, to stock up on acetaminophen before he left the school. Fresh air was the excuse he gave, and boy did he need it.

He didn't expel them for the joy of it. It physically pained him even, or at least felt like such. Logically, he knew that they weren't cut out for it and were just going to get either themselves or someone else killed later down the line. It was potential he needed to see, a spark he could kindle into a roaring flame of heroism.

A spark that wasn't present.

_Damn,_ he thought, shaking his head and tugging on the scarves draped around his neck. _Yamada really is rubbing off on me if I'm thinking in poetics._

It being the middle of April wasn't doing him wonders at the moment, his hero suit choice of black long-sleeves and pants with heavy scarves around his neck combining with the afternoon heat and spring humidity made him feel like a pig. Still, time to clear his head was time he needed to take, no matter how badly he wanted to go back to getting the mountains of paperwork over with.

He was now passing by an alley near the school, the path he was on differing drastically from his normal route. The normally uniform, concrete sidewalk gave way to cobble in the mouth of the pass, and the buildings themselves seemed relatively average, with a few quirks to make them stand out.

A flag here.

A sign there.

It wasn't anything spectacular, but he couldn't help but notice them. _Part of being a hero_, he supposed. He made to pass when something caught his eye, a little ways down the alley.

It was a cat.

Made of light.

It was a translucent neon green, about the size of the average house cat with a pair of literally glowing green eyes. It paced the alley for a bit, its eyes never leaving those of Aizawa while doing so. After a bit, it came to a stop and sat in the center of the pass, a glowing tongue licking at its paw, and with curiosity winning out over reason in the end, the Pro-Hero moved into the alley.

Immediately it stood up, circling a bit before darting down the alley and leaving a trail of glowing prints in its wake. Aizawa followed the trail at a cautious pace, all too familiar with the trickery villains tended to employ. It wasn't long into the chase when he heard a noise other than his own footsteps, which also brought to attention the overbearing silence of the alley.

He heard the scraping of feet against earth, as well as grunts of pain.

His pace immediately doubled, his earlier caution to the wind as he approached the noises. He vaulted over an overturned dumpster and into a small clearing, with piles of trash bags lining the sides of this section of the alley. It led to a dead end, with a large dumpster turned on its side at the end.

His focus wasn't currently on his surroundings, however.

Instead, it was on the people that populated the little clearing that were currently filling him with rage.

A young man with black hair styled into a bowl-cut was was kicking a boy on the ground, his skin the color of stone with a smile that seemed carved into his face. Leaning against the wall was a young woman with long, brown hair that draped down her back, her arms crossed and a toothy smirk adorning her features.

The source of his anger wasn't on their quirks however, and though their actions helped it, his true anger emanated from one fact.

Both the assaulter and the spectator were wearing U.A. uniforms.

The stone skinned kid raised his leg once more, but before it could descend, he and the young woman were caught up in a flurry of scarves. They put up a small amount of struggle, but judging by their gasps of what seemed to be recognition, they stopped when they figured out who had caught them.

He knelt by the young boy who was currently rolling himself up and into a seated position and looked him over for injuries. He took in the kid's appearance as well, his eyes that gleamed like chips of emerald embedded onto a pale face dotted with freckles. His curly, short green hair was dirty, as were his white shirt and black slacks.

Most notably however was the fact that the left pant leg was rolled up and tied near the knee.

The kid must've caught him staring, as he cracked a grin and waved his hands as in to motion him away.

"D-Don't worry about me, Mr. Eraser," the kid stuttered out, and boy would he have to figure out how he knew _that _little piece of info later. "I'm fine, well as fine as a one and a half legged boy can do. Take care of those two first."

_Ah, right._ His worry had distracted him from his anger from earlier, but it returned with a vengeance as he turned to the two downcast students. He knew these two as well.

After all, he had just expelled them.

"You beg to stay a part of the hero system, question my reasons and my methods," Aizawa began, his black, scraggly hair floating as his quirk activated. They both had mutation quirks, so nothing visibly changed, though his presence became exponentially more terrifying. "You even threaten to sue both me and the school, yet you come out here not even three hours after your expulsion, and begin assaulting someone in an alley."

He fixed them with a glare that could freeze hell over, and they began to visibly shake in their confines. He stepped forward, and their bindings lowered until they were eye level.

"Your victim here could press charges, and even I am tempted to call the authorities." The girl's eyes filled with unshed tears, and the boy tore his gaze from Aizawa's, finding the ground off to the side very interesting.

"However,"

The boy's gaze snapped back to meet his own, and the girl's face had a spark of hope flash across it. The bindings released and they dropped to the ground, panting.

"I'll let you off for now. You can turn yourselves around metaphorically speaking, I know it," He said before sighing, his eyes closing and hair falling. The two ex-students sighed in relief, though they went rigid in fear once more when he fixed them with another glare. "For now though, you'll have to turn yourselves around physically, and leave."

The two nodded, and practically ran out of the alley, knocking over a trashcan in their haste. With another exasperated sigh, he looked back to the kid while wrapping his scarves once more. Said kid was sitting upright with his back against the bottom of the overturned dumpster, petting the cat of light that was now curled on his waist. The green haired boy cracked a smile at Aizawa's raised brow.

"What's your name kid?" The older man began, his eyebrow never leaving its spot from its high arch. The boy smiled before responding.

"Izuku, your resident cripple and failure extraordinaire." He proclaimed, his arms stretching out as if presenting himself. The smile adorning his freckled face failed to match his self-deprecating words. Aizawa's brow furrowed before he continued.

"Alright then Izuku, I take it that's your quirk?" He asked, motioning towards the cat made of light. It glanced up at him and stretched, it's torso and front limbs lowering as it did so. Izuku chuckled and raised an eyebrow at the older man, an eyebrow raised and a mirthful grin on his face.

"Alright, now why are you here?" He asked. Izuku froze up at the question, and the cat glanced up at him and rubbed itself against his stomach. It took a few seconds, but the boy got a hold of himself and resumed petting the construct. It let out a distorted purr as he did.

"School had just let out, and I wanted to practice my quirk. Those other kids showed after I was a bit tired, and you know the rest." He said, his voice shaking slightly and his eyes unable to meet the older hero's. Aizawa could feel in his bones the falsehood, but decided not to push it.

_Kid seems uncomfortable enough as it is._

So he nodded, tugging at his scarves a bit. His face smoothed out into his normal countenance, another sigh escaping his lips.

"So, training your quirk," he said, more to himself than anything but out loud nevertheless. He spoke up when asking "You training to be a hero?"

The kid nodded, a grimace coming over him for a split second before his face was set in determination.

"Yes, yes I am," The cat on his lap hopped off and beside him, fading into nothing in a display of small orbs. "And even if you're a pro about to tell me I can't, and even if I'm missing a leg," He pushed himself up, a leg made up of the neon green light from before filling the empty space on his left side as he stood to a grand 5'4", a fist clenched before him. A wide, toothy grin made up Aizawa's features as he watched the spectacle before him.

"I'm going to be a hero!"

His passionate shout struck a cord with Aizawa, and his grin couldn't be wider as he said "Then I'll see you at the exam, Izuku." He quickly turned and left the alley, the smile never leaving his features.

Once the pro was gone, Izuku let out a long sigh as he slid down and into a sitting position. As the light making up his leg faded, he crawled into the depths of the overturned dumpster. He pulled a floor mat from the corner of the space and rolled it out onto the floor. He lay down onto the mat, making himself as comfortable as possible in the space.

As he rested his head in hands folded behind his head and closed his eyes for an afternoon nap, his wide smile never left his face.


	2. Chapter 2

**Huh, some of you actually liked this story. Good to know. ****Thanks too, for making it known. It helps.**

**I didn't say it last chapter, but I don't own jack shit, in case it wasn't already implied.**

** Enjoy**

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It was on a lonely hill past the outskirts of the Mustafa District, where the grass grew tall and vibrant. A gentle breeze coerced the long stands into a soft, rolling sway under the grayed sky. Through this rolling field trudged our small greenette, Izuku.

He pushed his way past the grass that tickled his leg, the other made up of green light. It reached up to his knee, following the thigh up his torso and loping over his shoulder to secure it.

His progress was slow, but his solemn gaze was unwavering as he made his way up the hill until finally, he arrived at its top.

At the crest of the hill was a small clearing, the vegetation roughly cut at varying heights. A single tree grew towards the far end of the clearing, its branches and foliage branching out and casting a light shade over the earth. At its base was a circle of smooth stones, with a larger stone, more oblong in its shape, erected upright in the center.

Izuku approached the site, sitting down with his leg crossed over his stump as the shining prosthetic faded into small motes that drifted into the sky. A cat, made of the same light that once made up his leg, crawled up and onto his lap. His eyes were already bleary with tears that threatened to leak out as he smiled at and stroked the feline construct. Finally, he leaned forward and traced his finger along the face of the rock, and a name written in light followed its trail.

_Midoriya __Inko_

"Hey, mom." The young boy began, running his hands across the top of the construct as a form of support. "It's been a while, I know."

There was no response.

"Yeah, sorry about that." He sniffed, tears finally beginning to fall, leaving small grooves on his dirty face. He wiped his nose before continuing.

"I've been busy as of late is all." His expression brightened a bit, with some light returning to his eyes. The cat rubbed itself against his stomach as he shifted slightly.

"On the plus side, I found a new spot! It's really close to a famous restaurant, so I get these awesome scraps from the dumpster!" He had a bright smile on his face, his hands pumping in excitement. The construct let him have his moment before letting out a warbled meow, and Izuku quickly resumed petting the top of it.

"There's also a water fountain, but it's a bit further. It's close to that beach full of trash, the one we used to visit sometimes with Da- Hisashi." His face scrunched up, and his construct tensed at the name. He took in a deep breath, smelling the natural scents of the world around him, before letting it out slowly.

"I haven't seen Kaachan, or any of the Bakugou's in forever, but knowing them, they're doing fine. They're strong like that, from what I remember." He was telling the truth, as he could never lie to his mom, but he still worried about the blonde and his family. His construct stretched before curling up on his lap once more.

Izuku took a deep breath, settling nerves that had been building throughout the entire one-sided conversation. Even the cat looked up at him, its gaze helping to settle the butterflies in his stomach.

"I… I decided to still try to be a hero."

The breeze picked up slightly before settling once more,

"I didn't know if you'd approve or not, since… you know."

_Flashes of light, a burning white outlined in orange and red. Deep yells, crashing wood, and the face of Endeavor fighting Hizashi's fire with his own. A massive, smoldering piece of wood hurtling towards him and his mother, to fast for him to-_

He shuddered at the scene playing out in his head.

"But it's always been a dream of mine, and even Aizawa-sensei, better known as Eraserhead, said I can." His features took a more determined form, his eyes hardening and mouth twisting into a grin.

The construct hopped off of his lap as the breeze picked up once more, much stronger than before.

"So I will," The wind strengthened, and he could feel it tossing his mop of curled green hair around as he clenched his fist. "I will become the best hero ever!" He shouted over the wind, and as he did so it came to a stop. The newfound silence was almost deafening, but it filled the greenette with pride.

"To prevent anything like that from happening ever again."

One last hint of wind whistled through the grass and brushed his cheek. He smiled, tears spilling forth.

"I love you too, mom."

He stood once more, the brilliant prosthetic forming underneath him as his did so. The cat hopped onto his shoulder as he turned from the stone and began to leave, a single footprint indenting the grass underfoot as he left.

The name of Midoriya Inko faded from the headstone, and the breeze resumed its normal course.

* * *

Aizawa sighed as he flopped onto the brown leather couch resting in the center of his living room, his arm coming to rest over his eyes to shield them from the bright lights above. One of his cats came up and hopped onto his lap, mewing softly for attention. Attention that he gave with his other hand.

He was content to lie there for the rest of time, in complete comfort to wallow in his melodrama.

His front door flinging open once more accompanied by a painfully loud "HELLO!" ruined the moment.

He slid his arm downwards to reveal Yamada Hizashi, his sharp glasses resting on a sharper nose. His smile was wide, rivaling the number one hero in the way it shined. His blonde hair went straight upwards and back, resembling a parakeets head feathers. He wore a black leather jacket and matching gloves and pants, the latter of which's shins had built in speakers, and noise canceling headphones hung around his neck.

Aizawa fixed him with a glare from beneath his arm, but it lacked any real heat.

"Don't be like that, Shota," Hizashi whined as he closed the door behind him, a plastic bag in hand as he walked over to the kitchen table that was a scant few paces from the back of the couch, and once the bag and its contents were safely on the table, Hizashi moved up to the rear of the couch. Leaning over, the blonde placed an exaggerated kiss on Aizawa's forehead.

Aizawa's glare softened, but his frown never left his face, much to Hizashi's consternation.

"What's wrong, hubby?" The blonde asked, his tone coming down considerably as he moved to the foot of the couch. Aizawa sat up briefly to allow Hizashi to sit before lowering his head once more, on the blonde's lap this time. Hizashi began to run a hand through Aizawa's hair similar to how Aizawa pet the cat on his lap.

"...It's about that kid I told you about, Izuku." The brunette said after a minute of silence, not that either complained. His blonde partner noted the exhaustion in Aizawa's voice.

"The one you met in the alley that could bend light or something?" Hizashi asked, and Aizawa nodded from his position.

"Yeah, that's the one." He squirmed slightly, nuzzling the top of his head further into Hizashi's waist. Once comfortable, he continued.

"I did some digging on him, trying to find something on him," He sighed, and Hizashi noticed just how much sorrow it carried. "At first, nothing. While uncommon, there's a plethora of Izuku's running around Japan. I looked into any that would be likely to be in the area then, and stumbled upon this." He reached under the couch, and after retrieving a paper, he handed it to Hizashi, who held it in one hand while continuing to pet Aizawa with the other.

_Two confirmed dead and one missing in fire caused by the chase of Midoriya Hisashi conducted by Number Two Hero: Endeavor._ The bold headline read, and the article went on to describe the chase and eventual hideout in the apartment complex. He hid out in his apartment, and the building caught fire around them. Endeavor went in, came out later with the smoking corpse of Hisashi.

Of course, the Pro got of scott free.

Meanwhile, Midoriya Inko and her son, Midoriya Izuku were missing until the burned, yet recognizable corpse of Inko was found outside the building.

Izuku was never found.

The pictures of all involved were also posted, and the image of the missing Izuku almost perfectly matched the description Aizawa gave of the Izuku he met.

So with a cocked eye, he lowered the paper and looked down towards his boyfriend, whose arm had covered his eyes once more. He stroked his and through the brunette's hair, humming a song lightly as he did so.

This continued for a few minutes until Aizawa lowered his arm, his eyes now red rimmed and tear tracks trailing from the corners and onto Hizashi's lap.

"So I went to find the kid again, but he was gone." Aizawa's voice wavered almost imperceptibly as he spoke, but his boyfriend still noticed. After a pregnant pause, the blonde of the pair finally spoke up.

"So we'll find him later. We'll get Nemuri, Ecto, hell, we'll get All Might if we have to," He gave a particularly strong rub as Aizawa looked into his eyes. "We'll find him, Shota."

"We'll give him a chance, a home."


End file.
